Rocket Pesto

Our vegie garden is coming along nicely at the moment, but the thing that just grows and grows is rocket.  There is so much there and no sooner than you pick some to use in a salad, it's back again! There have been plenty of rocket, pear and parmesan salads in the eat quaff laugh household of late!

I decided that the only way to use up a whole lot of the rocket was to make a pesto. Pesto is generally made from basil, but you can really make it using any herb or leafy green. Coriander pesto with a bit of chilli is one of my favourites.

This time, I used rocket and toasted cashews, along with the regular garlic, parmesan and oil. Our rocket is quite peppery, so I didn't need to add any pepper, but if you're using younger shop bought leaves, you might want to add a bit. Instead of lemon juice, I used some verjuice. It adds a similar acidity, without being too strong.

The batch of rocket pesto that I made was more than enough for a couple of meals. If I had been organised, I would have sterilised some jars to store it in, so that it would keep for a bit longer. If you do this, make sure you cover the top of the pesto with a thin layer of olive oil, so that it doesn't oxidise. You'll still need to keep it in the fridge and use it within a few weeks, but it does store for longer. Alternatively you can actually freeze pesto pretty well. Great when you want a simple pasta dish but don't have the time to be making the sauce from scratch.

Given that I had so much pesto, I managed to get two meals out of it, with a little bit left over. The first dish was a side to go with some ocean trout. I roasted some home grown 'cranberry red' potatoes and then tossed the pesto through them while they were hot. They were delicious!

The second meal was a simple pesto pasta, with a slight twist. Before tossing the pesto through the cooked pasta, I fried up a sliced chorizo until crispy and added that to the mix, with a dash of the pasta cooking water to loosen. The smoky paprika in the chorizo was great with the peppery rocket. Sprinkled with some extra grated parmesan, it made a simple dinner a little bit more special.

You could really get creative with pesto and use it for so much more than just a pasta sauce. Marinate chicken with it, spread it on toasted sourdough and top with goats cheese or feta, mix it with ricotta and use as a stuffing for rolled chicken or pork. You are only limited by your imagination!

Rocket Pesto

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, coarsely chopped

4 large handfuls of rocket leaves

3/4 cup cashew nuts

1 Tbs oil

2 Tbs verjuice

Salt to taste

Start by toasting the cashews. You can either do this in the oven at 180 degrees for about 10 minutes or until browned or in a dry frypan. Allow to cool.

Place garlic, cashews, parmesan and rocket in a food processor and blitz until coarsely chopped. Slowly add the oil and verjuice and blitz again until it's the desired consistency. I like my pesto to still be a bit chunky, but you might prefer it smoother.

Add salt if you need it and adjust the flavours with extra rocket, oil or verjuice as needed.

And To Drink...

This Plantagenet Omrah Rose from Great Southern in Western Australia was a lovely drop. There was plenty of red berry and plummy flavours with a bit of sweetness, but essentially a dry finish. It matched perfectly with the rich ocean trout and pesto potatoes, but also with the pasta with chorizo. The saltiness and spice in the chorizo and the peppery pesto were complemented by the slight sweetness of the wine. While the weather wasn't particularly warm the night we had this wine, to me, Rose is always great on a hot day when you want something with a bit of body, but also nice and refreshing.

I'll definitely be looking out for this Rose again, and other wines made by Plantagenet. Western Australia, particularly Great Southern, produce some wonderful red and white wines. Now to get over there to try some!

Baked Tuna

I think I've told you before that we are trying to eat more fish in the eat quaff laugh household. Personally, I would eat salmon every day, but the man of the house isn't such a fan and would prefer to have anything but.

Tuna is another fish that we do have quite often and it seems to keep everyone happy. Seared on the outside so that the middle is still pink, it is great crusted with cracked black pepper or sesame seeds. Rather than cooking the tuna like a steak, this dish quickly sears the outside and then bakes it in the oven. Because you use a big piece of fillet, rather than individual slices, it tends not to dry out and you get all the amazing fishy flavours melding with the sauce ingredients. Just ask your friendly fishmonger for  a large piece of fillet, if they don't have any on display.

When you feel like seafood, but want something quite hearty and filling, then this is your meal. This time around I have used red wine, but I've also made it with white wine and it's equally as good. It really depends what you have on hand, what's open at the time or what you feel like drinking! Being so versatile, you can really make more or less the same recipe into different tasting meals. When the weather is cold, serve with mash and some green beans or asparagus, when it's warmer, maybe some fresh crusty bread and a rocket salad. Just make sure you don't waste all those delicious juices!

 

Baked Tuna

 

600g piece of tuna fillet, preferably all one thickness
A drizzle of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 shallot, thinly sliced
2 French radishes, finely chopped
2 tsp small capers
500g fresh tomato, coarsely chopped
200ml red wine
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
A handful of fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Season tuna all over with salt and pepper.
Heat a drizzle of oil in a frying pan over high heat and sear the fish on all sides until golden.
Remove from the frying pan while you make the sauce.
In an ovenproof pot with a lid, heat another drizzle of oil and gently fry garlic, shallot and radish until softened.
Add the capers, tomato, wine and thyme and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the tomato starts to break down. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Place the tuna in the middle of the sauce, cover with a lid and bake for 5 minutes.

Take the pot out of the oven, carefully turn the tuna over, re-cover and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes. You want the centre of the tuna to still be pink and moist.
Remove from the oven and allow to rest for a few minutes to finish cooking.
Place the tuna on a serving plate and spoon the tomato and juices over the top.
Sprinkle with the chopped mint and serve.

 

 

And To Drink...

This dish really goes against the 'white wine goes with fish' principle, due to the tuna fillet being so meaty. You could serve it with the red wine you cooked with, a white wine, or something in between!
We decided to have ours with a Rose, as there wasn't any of the cooking wine left! It was the remains of a bottle we'd had the night before.

The 2012 Lethbridge Rose was actually perfect with the fish. It had a little bit of sweetness, but was heavy enough to balance the meatiness of the tuna and the acidity of the tomatoes and capers. There were plenty of red berry flavours and a little bit of spinciness. On a warm night, having a chilled wine was perfect.

Lethbridge Wines are located in Lethbridge, which is 30km northwest of Geelong. We have gone down there for the last two years at vintag,e in February or March, to pick the grapes on their Friends Pick days. It's a lot of fun (and not too much hard work) and it's very satisfying to know that you've helped in the making of their wines. We've even had the chance to stomp the grapes in the barrels. It was very messy, but we loved it, especially the kids!

Please check out their wines, if you can. The premium reds and whites (named after the winemakers children) are wonderful.